India telecom policy approved

India’s federal cabinet has approved the proposed National Telecom Policy (NTP), TeleGeography CommsUpdate reported.

The policy is set to replace the 13-year-old New Telecom Policy 1999 that governs the sector.

Among policies outlined by the NTP are plans to create a unified licensing authority for all types of licenses (except those for broadcasting), eliminate roaming charges, allow number portability among circles, allow the sharing of spectrum among cellcos, and facilitate consolidation in the crowded market.

The NTP also contains a target of 175 million broadband connections by 2017 and 600 million subscriptions of 2Mbps or more by 2020.